


show me your stars (and i’ll show you mine)

by tinyace



Category: Wicked - All Media Types
Genre: First Time, Other, Smut, Trans Character, here's 4k of unresolved sexual tension such fun
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-01
Updated: 2020-12-01
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:13:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,594
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27825085
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tinyace/pseuds/tinyace
Summary: Both liberal arts majors, Glinda has had her eye on one particular classmate for a while. When Elphaba asks Glinda to pose for them as a model, the tension between them skyrockets.
Relationships: Elphaba Thropp/Galinda Upland
Comments: 12
Kudos: 48





	show me your stars (and i’ll show you mine)

**Author's Note:**

> Yeahh, this is so unlike me (both the one-shot and smut part) but this wanted to be written and here we are. Heads-up for sexual content and gender dysphoria.

The liberal arts department of Shiz University was reputable for being one of the best in the country. Despite her parents’ numerous objections, as a third year art major Glinda was more than happy with her choice. Though the more general electives like the class she was currently in (Philosophy of Humanity Sciences) were quite the drag. The teacher was alright, and if Glinda tried hard enough she could remember his name too. But rather than sketching in her notebook—as Shenshen who was sitting next to her was doing—she actually was paying attention to the class. An avid notetaker would definitely describe her, even if it made her sound like a nerd.

For a moment her eyes wandered off and she spotted the green skin of her classmate. Elphaba was everything original and it endlessly fascinated her. They were wearing a grey beanie and a red patterned flannel with a black shirt underneath. The sleeve tattoo on their left hand was artistically designed and she wouldn’t mind a closer look at it.

Her hand betrayed her as she slowly outlined their lanky physique. She stopped immediately when she noticed what she was doing. Embarrassed, she forced herself to look back at the teacher and continued taking notes the rest of the class, uninterrupted. 

After two long and stuffy hours the teacher dismissed the class and Glinda packed in her bag while chatting with Shenshen. Someone stopped in front of their table and she was surprised to see who it was.

“Hey Glinda, can I ask a favour?” Elphaba said.

“Sure, what’s up?”

“Next week I have a thing and can’t attend this class. Could I have a copy of your notes so I don’t miss anything?”

“Sure,” Glinda said and added with a nervous laugh. “Why me?”

“Your notes are so clear and organized when you share them. I always use them when practicing for an exam.”

“Oh,” Glinda said and felt her cheeks flush. “Well, it’s no problem on my end.”

“Great!” Elphaba said relieved. “See you around.”

They walked off and Glinda turned to Shenshen, who was looking at her with a raised eyebrow.

“Come with?” Glinda avoided the question clearly on her lips. “I need to touch up my make-up.”

They headed for the women’s bathroom and Glinda zhuzhed up her curls and touched up a bit of her lipstick. All the while Shenshen stared at her from behind, her arms crossed and looking annoyed.

“Don’t think I didn’t see that.”

Glinda looked at her through the mirror, feigning ignorance. “See what?”

“The look you gave her.”

“Them,” she corrected her.

“Really? We’re doing that in private?”

“Asha uses those pronouns too and you don’t seem to have a problem with that,” Glinda pointed out.

Shenshen rolled her eyes, caught in her own lie. “Fine, you’re gay. It’s whatever. But the _vegetable_? Really?”

“You’re far too straight and conventional to understand what’s attractive about them, Shen.” Glinda put the lipstick back in her purse and turned around. “What you want is a boring but handsome square who will provide for you, but is interchangeable with any other decent man. Elphaba? Is unique. There’s nobody on earth like them. Of course that piques my interest. Both as an artist and a person with taste.”

Shenshen gasped. “You did _not_ just call me tasteless and basic!”

“Prove me wrong babe, and I’ll gladly eat my words.” Glinda winked and walked out the bathroom, with an offended Shenshen scurrying behind her.

“I dated a guy once who had a motorcycle!”

Glinda chuckled. “If that’s your idea of unconventional you’ll never understand.”

“Maybe I won’t,” Shenshen huffed. “I don’t see the problem in that.”

“There’s no problem at all,” Glinda said as she caught Elphaba’s eye at the opposite end of the hall. “Just trust me when I say there’s something appealing about them.”

\--

Two weeks passed and Glinda was waiting by the classroom door for another two boring hours of Philosophy of Human Sciences, when Elphaba walked up to her.

“Hey, don’t mean to be a bother, but did you have that copy I asked you for?”

“Oh! Yeah, I printed it out last period actually,” Glinda said and rummaged through her bag and handed it over.

“Thanks, this will be real helpful.”

The conversation should have ended there, but Elphaba stared at her for far longer than was appropriate, their dark brown eyes scanning every inch of her face.

Glinda perked up an eyebrow. “Anything else I could do for you?”

“Y-Yes, actually.” Elphaba snapped out of the trance. Their cheeks coloured a darker green and it looked ridiculously good on them. “I want to do some portrait photographs as a personal study of the human face. Would you like to model for me?”

“Model? Like how?”

“Nothing major. Just your face. I can’t pay you but I’ll give a copy of the photographs of course. You can use them as a social media profile or whatever you’d like.”

She didn’t really care that much about social media, but spending an hour or two alone with Elphaba? That was an opportunity she wasn’t going to let pass by. 

“Sounds great. When would be convenient for you? Friday would work for me.”

“I’ll have to check, but if you give me your number I’ll text you the details.”

\--

That Friday Glinda stood in front of the building Elphaba had given as their address. She rung the doorbell and Elphaba buzzed her in. Their studio apartment was three stairs up and smaller than she anticipated.

“Will you have enough space to shoot?”

“Oh yeah, I furnished it keeping in mind a quick change into a photo studio.” They pointed out the wall bed that had been pulled up and the table and chair shoved into a corner. The curtains were closed to keep out any natural and unpredictable lighting.

“You can sit there.” 

Right in the middle of the room was a stool that was lit by two large but improvised studio lights. The plain white wall was enough of a solid background for a session like this.

“You’re quite creative with your equipment. I know how hard it is to get the supplies you need on a budget.”

“Tell me about it,” Elphaba said. “One day I hope to have my own photo studio. This will have to do in the meantime.” 

To Glinda’s surprise they grabbed an old and small handheld camera and didn’t even bother with a tripod.

“Oh? You’re going old school? I think my dad used to have a camera like that when he was young.”

“Digital photography is just pixels. Analogue is far more authentic and imperfect. It’s what so great about it,” Elphaba walked around Glinda to check which angle to shoot from. “There’s no photoshop or filter to hide behind. It’s pure and simple. The naked truth.”

Elphaba stopped in front of her and lifted their camera. “No need to smile.”

“Then what am I supposed to do?”

“Whatever comes natural to you.”

“What if a smile comes to me?”

“Nobody smiles naturally when they know they’re being photographed. It’s imitation which makes it a limitation,” they sighed and lowered the camera. “Stay here.” 

They put the camera on the kitchenette counter and walked out the door. Glinda was flabbergasted. With the door left open, she could see the hallway and how Elphaba walked up and down it.

“Elphaba?” She called them, but they blatantly ignored her. 

Glinda huffed. Perhaps it was her own fault to expect anything more from Elphaba. They had always been odd and mysterious, but maybe that was because they were batshit crazy. 

Oh well, as long as they weren’t in their own room, she might as well try to find out a thing or two. It was barely decorated, and that wasn’t because it had to function as part-time photo studio. Neither did it seem like a minimalist choice that she saw sometimes in magazines. Those were designed in a way to be functional and practical while still stylized. This room didn’t seem rather functional or stylish. It was just barebones. Devoid of life. Glinda would never figure out their character based on this room alone. 

The door slammed shut and Glinda startled from the sound. Elphaba grabbed their camera and got back into position and snapped their first picture.

“Took you long enough,” Glinda scoffed.

“Agreed, you took your time with this,” Elphaba said, reeling the film into the next shot. “I get it, though. Masking away your vulnerabilities to protect yourself.”

Glinda opened and closed her mouth again.

The shutter clicked again and Elphaba stepped closer. “When did you figure out you were transgender?”

“W-What?”

They lowered their camera. “Don’t worry, I didn’t clock you. I only noticed it when I looked through the lens. It’s the way you carry yourself. Such a practiced routine it appears completely natural. So, when?”

“Young,” Glinda stammered and brushed away the tear in the corner of her eye. “Very young. Nobody has clocked me like that in years.”

“I didn’t clock you,” Elphaba repeated. “All I saw was a mask and I deduced from there what you were hiding.”

“Sounds like clocking to me,” Glinda muttered.

“It’s not.” They hid behind the camera once more. “They assigned me male at birth, too. But that was only because there was too much on display to have me pass as a girl. When I started to develop breasts all the doctors freaked out. Put me on hormones and everything. I stopped with that when I was eighteen and finally in control of my own body. Being intersex is quite the trip.”

“I never knew,” Glinda said with wide eyes.

“Never knew about you either.”

_Click._

“But you still identify as non-binary, right?”

“Yeah, it’s the only thing that makes sense for me. What about you? You got a supportive network?”

“Sort of. My parents tolerated it because I was so miserable as a boy. Ever since I started passing I stopped telling people. Nobody at school knows.”

“No partner you had to open up to?”

“No. I haven’t dated since post-op and before that I never let anyone…” Glinda flushed bright red as she realized she had just told Elphaba she was still a virgin.

“I get it,” they said, not being phased by the subject in the slightest. “I’m not exactly dating material. At one point I thought about going to a sex worker to get it over with, but that seemed a bit too desperate for my taste. It’s a meaningless concept anyway. Still…” 

_Click._

The slightest grin was detectable behind the camera. “Glad to know I’m not the only one.”

A few more pictures got taken before the film was full and Elphaba called it. 

“That’s it?” Glinda asked, a tad disappointed how quickly the shoot was done with.

“Well, I have to process them in the darkroom at school. That usually takes a while.”

“Can I come?”

Elphaba raised an eyebrow. “To process your photos? Sure, if you want to. I think we got enough time.” They checked their watch. “Oh yeah, that should be doable. School’s open till ten today.” 

They made their way over to Shiz University and Elphaba led the way to the darkroom. It was a completely forgotten part of the building that Glinda had only been to once or twice.

Elphaba turned on the light and started taking out all kinds of plastic tubes and trays and chemical bottles. 

Glinda watched them set up in quiet admiration. “I think I’ve only been in here when a teacher showed us this room was available to use.”

“That’s not surprising. I know when a teacher has set an assignment to shoot analogue, because that’s the only time the darkroom is occupied by someone other than me.”

“Really? Photography majors are a bunch of hipsters, there’s no way you’re the only one still preferring analogue.”

Elphaba grinned at the _hipster_ insult. “Oh, there are plenty of people who prefer analogue, but when it comes down to developing it’s far too tedious and time consuming for them. In September I always see first years excited to use the darkroom, but after two tries I never see them back. Most students who shoot analogue just let their prints develop at the mall.”

“Yet you prevailed.”

“I like to do it myself, however tedious. Even the slightest overexposure or fault in the process and you’ll notice it, which tells a story on its own. It really makes you appreciate the finishing product. Can you hit the lights? The one marked safelight will do.”

Glinda scanned the wall and flicked the switch that had some painter’s tape above it with ‘safelight’ written on it. The room went dark for a moment and then a dim red light lit up the room. 

“Oh, and turn your phone off, please. If it lights up it can ruin the film. A classmate learnt that one the hard way.”

“What about the red light? Won’t that ruin it?” Glinda said as she turned off her phone.

“If I had shot in colour we would’ve had to process in the dark. But since these photos are black-and-white, we can have the safelight on.”

What followed next was an intricate routine that Glinda barely managed to follow along with, even as Elphaba explained it. The film had to be put in a tank, soaked in chemicals all the while turned over repeatedly, put in what was called a stop bath that had to be a certain temperature, and then dried again. It was all mindbogglingly complicated.

“I’m starting to understand why photographers went digital.”

“Yeah?” Elphaba said as they carefully rinsed the reel with some film cleaner. “I feel I could say the same about painters.”

“Painting is nowhere near this complicated.”

“Do you prefer digital or canvas?” Elphaba asked.

“Both have their advantages, but if I had to choose I’d say canvas.”

“Hmm,” Elphaba put one hand on the table and leaned in. “Why is that?”

She briefly halted by their sudden closeness. “There’s certain depth you can create on canvas that you cannot really achieve on a screen. The texture of it is so different and there’s a certain beauty in seeing where the brush has struck the canvas.”

Elphaba smirked.

“ _What_?”

“Nothing, you’re just every bit as pretentious as I am.” They gazed at her boldly. “It’s the exact same argument I use for analogue photography. You prefer the imperfections of your medium as much as I prefer mine.”

Glinda definitely didn’t know how to come back from that; they had her well backed into a corner. Elphaba broke eye contact and took the reels and hung them up into something that looked at once both like a refrigerator and an oven.

“What’s happening now?”

“They need to dry. Luckily we got a film dryer here so it will take maybe half an hour. The cafeteria is still open so we should get some dinner in the meantime. Afterwards we can start the printing process.”

Half an hour later, with their bellies filled, they were back in the dark room. Elphaba set everything up to print the film—or the negative—as Elphaba pointed out it was now called. The first step was exposure of the negative through an enlarger, after which the photograph had to go through another series of chemical baths. 

This time it was actually fun, because Glinda could see what Elphaba had shot this afternoon. The photos were… vulnerable, intimate even. With the clip she turned over the photograph.

“Be careful,” Elphaba jumped in and wrapped their arm around hers, supporting the clip. Glinda’s breath staggered as she felt Elphaba’s body press against hers. “We want the photographs to be as beautiful as the subject.”

Their voice was so suave and close to Glinda’s ear that her entire neck heated up. Elphaba’s arm guided hers and together they turned over the photograph once again. “I like this one. It really highlights your freckles.”

“I never liked my freckles.”

“I figured. I could tell you were trying to hide them, which is such a shame,” Elphaba said and Glinda nearly passed out when their other hand rested on her hip. “Are you happy with the photos?”

Glinda took a breath to steady her voice. “You’ve captured a side of me I thought I hid so well.”

“Should I take that as a compliment?” Elphaba whispered.

Glinda closed her eyes and tried to control the rate of her heart, that was pulsing in her throat. “They’re beautiful, Elphaba,” she said and it sounded so frail and full of longing, it was pathetic.

As soon as the heat came, it left again when Elphaba stepped away from the bathing and back to the enlarger, leaving Glinda in a cold yet bothered state she didn’t know how to get rid off. 

They developed the rest of the photographs with very few word exchanged between them. The heat returned once more to her when they laid the developed photographs in a cabinet for the ink to dry over the weekend. As Elphaba closed the cabinet door they held their arm stretched against it, effectively pinning Glinda.

“Thanks for coming along,” Elphaba said. “It can be quite the lonely process.”

Her chest heaved. “If there’s anything else I can do…”

“I got it from here.” They turned their head but then seemed to remember something. “Oh, one more thing…”

Elphaba leaned in so far she could feel their breath on her skin. Glinda closed her eyes, readying for a kiss that never came. A whisper of a voice spoke directly into her ear.

“I don’t date my models,” Elphaba said. “It’s incredibly unprofessional.”

Glinda snapped her eyes open as the door fell back into its lock, leaving her all alone in the darkroom, frustrated and unsatisfied. 

\--

A full week went by without hearing anything from Elphaba after they left her in the darkroom. It infuriated her. How they had left things _and_ the cone of silence she was treated with. If only the tables were turned, Glinda would have given them a taste of their own medicine. And she had come up with her own plan of revenge when Elphaba would hand over the photos.

Which was the Tuesday after that, as they passed each other in the hallway.

“Got your pictures right here,” Elphaba said as they took their bag and fished out an envelope. “Apologies it took a while, I had to create a copy for you. The ones we made in the darkroom I’ll be using for my portfolio.”

Glinda quickly glanced through the pictures, barely giving them a look. “These are nice, thank you.”

She caught their arm before they could walk away. “It’s my turn to ask a favour. I’ll be painting a portrait of you. Tonight.”

“Uhm–”

“I’ll text you the address. Don’t be late.”

\--

Elphaba got to her apartment on the dot. If they were always this obedient this was going to work out swell. Glinda ushered them over to her couch and dictated exactly how they had to lie down.

“Posing makes it look unnatural,” Elphaba grumbled as they followed her instructions.

“In photography, yes,” Glinda agreed, propping up their hand to the cushion. “But there’s no lens this time. It’s me and my brush painting the image. You try to capture reality whereas I…” She locked eyes with them, “create a fantasy.”

She sat behind her canvas and picked out the paintbrush she liked to start with. With the colours mixed on the palette, she kept one eye at Elphaba and started to paint. 

It was undeniably impressive how long it took before Elphaba grew antsy. Glinda expected them to last only a few minutes, but a solid twenty minutes went by before they cracked.

“I never asked what style you’re painting me in.”

“Pointillism.”

“What’s that?”

Glinda pressed another splotch of paint on the canvas and tutted. “Someone didn’t pay attention in the art history elective.”

“That was a first year class,” Elphaba huffed. “Besides, you painters have far too many art movements to keep track of.”

“It’s a technique of painting where you only use dots to accentuate contrast. Originally it was a branch of neo-impressionism, though I like to mix it more with expressionism,” Glinda explained as she painted. “I look at it like this: If you want reality you snap a picture, but if you want to feel _emotion_ , if you want to feel how the painter felt, one turns to art.”

“I object wholeheartedly by this grotesque misinterpretation of photo–”

Glinda sushed them and put her full attention on the painting.

“It’s funny, actually,” she said after a long while. “Photography took over what painting knew what to do best. No wonder art had an existential crisis throughout the nineteenth and twentieth century. With its purpose removed; to visualize reality, what could possibly be left? That’s when technique became important. Create paintings with dots or cubes or even later on, pop art.”

“Are you telling me photography killed art?”

“On the contrary,” Glinda dipped her brush in the glass of water and cleaned it. “It liberated it.”

“Makes sense. I never liked conventional photography either.”

“I was going to ask about that actually. Is that the reason you don’t shoot in colour?”

“Black-and-white has a sense of timelessness. The way colour never could.”

“And it would hide your unique skin, too.”

Elphaba froze for a moment. “Yeah…”

She loosely held the brush in her hand, though it was nowhere near the canvas. Her eyes were solely fixated on Elphaba. “I think you’re beautiful,” she said softly, her cheeks burning. “No painting could ever come close to capturing that.”

Belatedly she realized this was supposed to be about teasing Elphaba for what they did to her in the darkroom, but Glinda got so caught up in the moment she completely forgot about it.

Elphaba looked awkwardly lost, laying on the couch. Their voice trembled when they replied, “I could never believe that.”

“Here,” Glinda got up and kneeled down next to the couch. “I’ll show you.” 

With a gentle hand she brushed some paint onto their cheek down to their neck, creating a flower. “Gave you a new tattoo.”

They locked eyes with each other and Elphaba must have leaned in closer because their lips were a kissing distance away. The goal she had set for this meeting was so far in the back of Glinda’s mind it may as well been forgotten. Continuing to tease Elphaba would be denying herself exactly what she wanted, and all she wanted was to give in.

Glinda dropped the brush and grabbed Elphaba by their shirt, pulling them into a kiss. They immediately responded by deepening the kiss, and wrapped an arm around Glinda, pulling her on top of them without ever parting lips.

“ _Finally_ ,” Glinda breathed out and moved to their neck, sucking on their skin. 

“Be careful,” Elphaba said as they rubbed a thumb against her jawline. “That paint could poison you.”

She looked up and stared right into their eyes, her voice just a whisper against their lips. “I don’t care.”

“I do,” Elphaba whispered back. 

In one smooth motion they managed to flip Glinda over so they were the one on top. They kissed her fiercely while their hands loosened the zipper and pulled down her underwear just enough to give them access.

Their kisses slowly went downwards, but Glinda pulled them back up. “I want you here.”

Elphaba nodded and their hand slipped in with ease, which Glinda was far too busy to feel embarrassed about. For a brief moment she wondered whether Elphaba was as inexperienced as they had said, because they managed to find the exact spots where she craved them the most. She kissed them feverishly until her breathing became too heavy and she arched back in pleasure.

When she got her breath back under control she saw how Elphaba licked their fingers dry and it was the hottest thing Glinda had ever seen. 

“Come here,” she said and pulled them in another kiss, much less restless this time. Perhaps what excited her the most was that she could finally return the favour. But Elphaba pulled away before she could even unzip their pants.

“I have to leave,” they said, flustered.

“Wait. Elphie–?” Glinda reached for their arm but Elphaba was faster and eluded her. With her balance thrown off, Glinda fell down on the carpet as Elphaba damn near sprinted out her door.

Frustrated as hell, Glinda felt even worse than before. There was a complete imbalance between the satiated feeling still coursing through her body and a total dissatisfaction, emotionally.

\--

The next day, after her class had ended, Glinda stalked towards the darkroom and saw the red light on top of the door warning anybody outside the room was occupied. She yanked open the door.

“Hey! Can’t you see–” Elphaba stopped dead in their tracks.

“Don’t worry, those photos will tell a great story,” Glinda said and pushed the door closed. “We didn’t finish last night. _You_ in particular.”

Elphaba backed away. “It’s nothing personal. I always do it myself.”

“Today’s your lucky day then.” Glinda pinned them against the cabinet and searched for their eyes in the red light, letting Elphaba take the initiative.

They leaned in and Glinda pressed her body against theirs, picking up the same pace as last night. Her hand went to their belt and unbuckled it.

Elphaba pulled away from the kiss and grabbed her wrist to stop her. Hesitantly, they said, “Glinda, it’s… it’s botched.”

She earnestly looked at them. “I want every part of you.”

“You don’t mean that.”

“I do,” she softly replied. “I know how it feels to hate your body. To want to crawl out of your own skin. So for once, let your body be loved by someone who truly admires it.”

The look they gave her was so unsure of themself yet so desperate to want to believe every word she said.

“Please, Elphie,” Glinda whispered. “I had one too, remember? I know what feels nice.”

Elphaba kissed her again and it was all the permission she needed. Unzipping their pants was a swift affair, but Glinda left them the dignity by not pulling everything down, feeling that would be too much for them. Her hand slipped into their underwear and was pleased to find out they were every bit as excited for her as she was for them.

Knowing they would need the distraction, Glinda continued to kiss them. As their breathing went heavier, Glinda went down their neck and kissed it until she left a mark there, telling all the world she had staked her claim. She also couldn’t help the one or two times her teeth scraped their skin and left tiny bites, which made Elphaba’s breath hitch.

They bit their tongue to repress a moan and Elphaba’s head lulled against the cabin as they left their underwear a mess. Glinda brought her hand back to their face, which they leaned into.

“That was… Glinda…” they breathed out in a happy, dazed haze.

Elphaba chased for her lips but Glinda pulled away. She buried her head in their hair and whispered: “Now we’re even.”

She was out the door before there was a reply. Glinda bit back a grin as she walked off, knowing full well that out of the two, she’d be the only one leaving that room satisfied.


End file.
